u  r  ch 


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Reconstruction 
In  West  Africa 


A  GATHERING  TOGETHER 
OF  THE 

Reports  of  the  West 
Africa  Mission 

FROM 

May  1,  1915  — April  30,  1916 


Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  U.  S.  A. 


156  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK  CITY 


At  a  Conference  between  Prot¬ 
estant  Mission  Boards  at  work  in 
Kamerun,  W.  Africa,  July,  1914,  the 
following  agreement  as  to  division  of 
territory  was  agreed  upon : 

1.  The  Presbyterian  Mission  to  occupy 
the  territory  outlined  in  its  report,  includ¬ 
ing  the  Yebekole  work,  and  the  Abongmbang 
Road  so  as  to  connect  with  Lomie. 

2.  The  Gossner  Mission  to  take  the  field 
south  of  the  Sanaga  River,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  the  Yebekole  work  and  the  Nyong 
strip  of  our  work  beyond  Yebekole  to 
Abongmbang.  Their  beginning  will  be  at 
Semini  and  to  go  east  and  include  Bertuga. 

3.  The  Baptist  Mission  will  hold  to  the 
field  now  occupied  at  the  Coast  and  toward 
the  northeast,  also  the  field  around  Ngila, 
north  of  Yuande,  also  a  strip  from  Nyam- 
tang,  and  the  work  near  it  to  Ngila 
(Ndumba),  so  as  to  keep  their  communica¬ 
tion  open  and  provide  for  occupation  of  the 
territory  lying  in  between. 

4.  The  Basle  Mission  will  expand  pri¬ 
marily  toward  the  north  and  northeast,  and 
also  plan  advance  toward  Yetong  with  a 
view  to  future  occupation. 

It  was  also  agreed  that,  at  present,  work 
at  Yuande  itself  is  not  feasible  or  possible, 
but  that  each  mission  advance  toward  it  as 
rapidly  as  possible. 

This  agreement  was  made  just  a 
few  weeks  before  the  outbreak  of  the 
European  War.  Now,  after  two  years 
of  war,  the  Mission  of  the  Presby¬ 
terian  Church  is  the  only  one  at  work 
in  this  territory  and  the  missionaries 
are  caring  not  only  for  their  own 
work,  but  the  work  of  the  Gossner, 
Basle  and  German  Baptists  as  far  as 
the  men  and  means  will  allow. 


BATANGA 


The  work  at  Batanga  station  has  been 
sadly  crippled  by  the  War  and  was  entirely 
broken  up  for  more  than  a  year.  Our  people 
were  scattered,  some  at  the  Concentration 
Camps  near  Fulasi,  and  some  in  Spanish 
Guinea  or  in  Refugee  Camps  on  the  Campo, 
but  the  greater  number  on  the  various 
plantations  near  Victoria.  Their  personal 
effects  were  confiscated  wherever  found. 
Many  of  their  villages  were  looted,  and 
some  partially  or  even  wholly  destroyed. 
Many  gardens  were  ruined  and  the  long 
neglect  resulted  in  serious  damage  to 
houses  and  gardens  even  where  they  had 
not  been  molested.  Many  were  killed  and 
hundreds  died  of  starvation  and  disease.  It 
has  been  estimated  that  the  entire  number 
of  Mabeya  has  been  reduced  one-third. 

Some  escaped  to  the  Bush  and  lived  like 
hunted  animals  for  months  before  they  were 
able  to  reach  safety  on  the  Spanish  border. 
One  of  the  Bible  readers  was  thus  in  hiding 
for  four  months.  His  wife  became  separated 
from  him  and  was  not  found  until  two 
months  later,  soon  after  which  she  died. 
Fifty-one  persons  of  Makawomi,  a  prosper¬ 
ous  village  near  Kribi  and  our  best  centre 
among  the  Mabeya,  died  during  the  War. 
The  death  roll  of  the  Kribi  church,  numbers 
40  probably,  and  that  of  Batanga  church  is 
equally  large,  though  the  exact  figures  are 
not  available.  More  than  200  fresh  graves 
were  filled  in  Kribi  while  the  refugees  were 
there  during  December-February,  1914-15. 
Food  was  entirely  inadequate  and  the  people 
suffered  terribly.  Those  who  survived  were 
pitiably  gaunt  and  emaciated. 

Once  safely  out  of  the  reach  of  hostilities 
our  people  fared  much  better,  especially 

1 


those  who  went  to  Victoria,  though  even 
there  they  suffered  from  the  cold,  the  tem¬ 
perature  falling  lower  there  than  here 
(Batanga)  and  there  were  numerous  deaths. 
There  was  no  scarcity  of  food  at  the  plan¬ 
tation,  however. 

At  all  the  plantations  and  refugee  camps 
services  were  held  by  the  ministers  and 
elders,  all  serving  without  pay,  as  no  attempt 
was  made  after  the  people  left  home  to 
continue  the  offerings.  The  spiritual  life 
of  the  people,  while  many  fell  away,  was 
really  much  better  than  might  have  been 
expected.  The  majority  of  the  members 
of  Ubenji  church  were  in  the  villages  on 
the  Spanish  side  of  the  Campo  and  in  the 
refugee  camps  near  there,  and  they  were 
frequently  visited  during  the  year  from 
Benito.  There  also  the  services  were  regu¬ 
larly  kept  up  by  the  elders  and  others. 

As  soon  as  the  War  in  Kamerun  was 
practically  at  an  end,  the  reoccupation  of 
Batanga  station  was  authorized  by  the 
Commander  of  the  Allied  Forces,  and  the 
natives  were  allowed  to  return  to  their 
villages  though  the  lack  of  transportation 
facilities  made  the  return  of  those  at  Vic¬ 
toria  a  slow  process  extending  over  a  period 
of  more  than  three  months. 

During  the  interval  between  the  change 
of  governments,  the  people  from  the  villages 
not  far  from  the  coast  came  down  to  Kribi 
and  Batanga  for  loot.  Our  houses  were 
pretty  thoroughly  stripped.  Valuable  mat¬ 
tresses  were  destroyed  to  obtain  the  few 
yards  of  cloth  covering  them.  The  timely 
arrival  of  one  of  the  missionaries  checked 
them  before  they  had  quite  finished  their 
work  and  he  succeeded  in  recovering  a  great 
deal  of  the  stolen  goods,  but  the  losses  were 
serious.  When  the  missionaries  finally 
returned  to  the  station,  February,  1916,  they 
found  the  grounds  were  badly  overgrown 
and  a  number  of  the  buildings  badly  in  need 

2 


of  repair.  The  work  of  rehabilitation  is  a 
task  of  such  magnitude  that  even  yet  a 
great  deal  remains  to  be  done,  though  the 
work  of  clearing  up  has  been  pushed  as 
rapidly  as  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  work¬ 
men  and  of  feeding  them  would  permit,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  danger  of  an  epidemic  of 
dysentery. 

As  the  people  returned  more  or  less  desti¬ 
tute,  to  villages  damaged  or  entirely 
destroyed,  and  found  that  the  boxes  of  their 
personal  effects  which  they  had  stored  at  the 
Mission  had  been  confiscated  by  the  govern¬ 
ment,  they  sought  to  find  some  one  to  blame 
for  their  misfortunes  and  many  affected 
to  believe  the  Mission  responsible.  This  was 
sufficient  for  a  time  to  be  very  serious,  but 
most  of  those  disaffected  had  never  been 
friendly  to  the  Mission  at  any  time  (though 
quite  ready  to  take  refuge  with  the  mission¬ 
ary  and  place  their  goods  in  his  care  when 
they  fancied  they  were  in  danger).  The 
bulk  of  our  real  adherents  were  very  loyal. 
All  knew  that  they  had  been  allowed  tci  bring 
their  boxes  to  the  Mission  with  the  express 
provision  that  we  could  not  prevent  their 
seizure  if  the  Government  chose  to  take 
them.  They  also  knew  that  valuables  left 
in  their  villages  were  lost  just  the  same  as 
those  left  at  the  Mission.  Gradually  the 
feeling  toward  the  Mission  has  improved, 
but  the  situation  still  needs  very  careful 
handling,  particularly  on  account  of  the 
popular  bitterness  towards  the  Bulu. 

When  the  Germans  left  the  Kameruns 
they  took  a  large  number  of  native  carriers. 
These  returned  via  Campo,  and  about  30,000 
crossed,  the  river,  most  of  them  passing 
through  our  station  grounds  en  route  to 
their  homes.  No  estimate  was  made  of  the 
hundreds  of  those  who  died  along  the  road, 
chiefly  of  starvation,  but  very  many  from 
dysentery.  The  needs  of  these  thousands 
as  well  as  the  needs  of  many  of  the  Batanga 

3 


people  who  returned  to  their  homes  ill,  fur¬ 
nished  exceptionally  large  opportunities  for 
medical  work.  Nearly  all  the  medicines, 
however,  had  been  commandeered  or  other¬ 
wise  removed,  but  a  small  supply  of  neces¬ 
saries  was  gathered  together  from  various 
sources. 

In  spite  of  all  the  difficulties  we  have  been 
very  thankful  for  the  privilege  of  again 
taking  up  the  work  here.  Many  of  our 
people  are  really  grateful  for  all  that  we 
tried  to  do  for  them.  All  need  help  in  this 
trying  time.  The  work  must  be  reestablished 
in  every  department  and  the  amount  and 
character  of  the  effort  that  it  is  possible 
for  us  to  put  forth  during  the  coming  year 
will  largely  affect  the  whole  future  of  the 
Cause  in  this  district. 


A  Christian  Headman  or  Chief 


4 


EFULEN 


Efulen  station  was  closed  from  September 
26,  1915-February  1,  1916,  and  none  of  the 
members  who  were  here  previous  to  that 
time  are  here  now  so  this  report  will  be  a 
mere  sketch  of  conditions  and  the  gathering 
up  of  loose  ends. —  (Mrs.  Weber.) 

The  station  and  grounds  were  very  well 
cax-ed  for  by  the  temporary  occupants,  dur¬ 
ing  the  period  of  requisition.  The  only 
serious  loss  was  in  the  Medical  Department 
as  a  dog  locked  in  the  dispensary  was  for¬ 
gotten,  and  in  its  fury  destroyed  the  larger 
amount  of  medicines  left  there,  by  knocking 
the  bottles  to  the  cement  floor,  gnawing  at 
the  window  frames  and  chewing  up  the 
medical  books.  He  should  be  a  well  in¬ 
formed  pup  if  he  digested  all  of  the  informa¬ 
tion  he  chewed.  It  took  some  weeks  to  get 
in  running  order  again.  There  has  been  no 
lack  of  patients,  but  they  could  not  all  be 
cared  for  because  of  the  lack  of  supplies  and 
instruments.  The  hospital  beds  which  had 
been  carried  away  and  burned,  have  been 
replaced  by  others. 

The  work  of  the  Church  has  necessarily 
been  interrupted.  Many  of  the  Bible  readers 
were  called  in  when  the  Mission  was  ordered 
to  leave  the  station  in  September.  No 
communion  service  was  held  from  July, 
1915,  until  January,  1916.  While  many  of 
the  Christians  fell  because  of  the  tempta¬ 
tions  of  the  time,  the  marvel  is  that  more 
of  them  did  not  fall  when  we  consider  that 
the  missionaries  were  taken  away  from  them 
for  such  a  long  and  trying  time.  The 
licentiates  in  charge  of  the  Zingi  and 
Alum  churches  met  the  responsibility  thrust 
upon  them  with  courage  and  wisdom  realiz¬ 
ing  as  never  before  their  dependence  upon 
God.  Several  of  the  other  Bible  readers 
stood  firm  and  did  a  noble  work  in  caring 
for  the  flocks  under  their  charge.  One  of 
the  Bible  readers  was  shot  and  killed  by 

5 


soldiers.  There  are  now  three  young  men 
studying  for  the  ministry  and  ten  others 
from  the  three  churches  have  expressed  a 
desire  to  study,  some  of  whom  have  been 
accepted  by  the  Presbytery. 

The  school  work  has  been  unsettled, 
partly  because  of  the  lack  of  school  mater¬ 
ials.  When  the  schools  were  again  started 
and  the  boys  found  out  that  there  was  to  be 
no  English  taught,  a  number  of  them  from 
Efulen,  towards  the  beach  refused  to  come 
to  school. 

In  spite  of  the  spirit  of  lawlessness  and 
the  unfriendliness  of  those  who  have  ever 
looked  upon  the  Mission  as  the  enemy  of 
their  plans  and  desires,  the  majority  of  the 
people  are  very  glad  to  have  the  Mission  at 
work  again,  and  things  are  much  more  en¬ 
couraging  than  it  was  supposed  would  be 
possible  as  after  such  a  disturbing  influence 
as  war. 


Mustered  into  the  Array 

6 


LOLODORF 

In  spite  of  the  low-hanging  wai'-clouds, 
MAC  LEAN  Station  (LOLODORF)  has 
closed  one  of  the  best  years  in  its  history  in 
point  of  increase  in  attendance,  accessions 
and  offerings.  Not  a  single  item  of  last 
year’s  report  but  what  has  been  surpassed 
this  year  and  that  in  a  time  when  the  con¬ 
trary  might  have  been  expected.  During 
the  dark  days  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
War,  men’s  minds  and  hearts  were  turned 
towards  the  Gospel  as  never  before,  and 
although  with  the  reopening  of  commerce 
and  intercourse  some  will  again  be  drawn 
away,  the  time  of  heart-searching  will  not 
be  entirely  forgotten  and  some  will  have 
made  pledges  from  which  they  will  not 
retract,  though  external  conditions  may 
materially  change. 

Ten  evangelistic  points  have  been  con¬ 
tinuously  occupied  for  the  entire  year  with 
the  exception  of  three  which  closed  down  for 
a  month  during  the  change  of  Government. 
The  average  attendance  at  the  station 
church  was  668  as  against  577  of  the  year 
before,  and  at  the  district  preaching  points 
the  combined  attendance  for  any  Sunday 
was  1594  a  gain  of  269.  An  average  of 
1644  on  communion  Sundays  for  the  station 
church  was  a  gain  of  240  over  the  previous 
year;  while  the  high-water  mark  for  com¬ 
munion  attendance  was  in  October,  1915,  in 
the  district  of  the  Lolodorf  church,  when 
2015  were  present.  Mongale  church,  the 
oldest  child  of  the  Lolodorf  church  has 
become  a  lusty  youngster  and  reports  an 
average  attendance  of  400,  and  the  average 
of  the  five  communion  points  including 
Mengale  was  1438. 

Lam  church  with  its  11  evangelistic  points 
had  a  combined  average  Sunday  attendance 
of  1609  and  an  average  communion  attend¬ 
ance  of  1052. 


7 


For  the  three  churches  there  has  been  a 
gain  in  average  attendance  of  1047  which 
means  that  over  a  thousand  more  people 
come  every  Sunday  to  hear  the  Word 
of  God. 

The  growth  of  contributions  has  been 
amazing  and  hard  of  explanation,  though 
not  confined  to  Mac  Lean  Station.  It  may 
be  partially  explained  that  there  was 
no  outlet  for  the  purchase  of  anything, 
and  so  more  was  given  for  religious  pur¬ 
poses,  but  this  does  not  explain  all.  There 
seemed  to  be  a  sudden  increase  in  the  spirit 
of  giving,  regular  contributors  voluntarily 
increasing  and  doubling  their  pledges,  and 
this  without  undue  pressure.  There  was  a 
time  just  at  the  close  of  1915  when  the  six 
months’  collections  were  practically  the 
same  as  those  of  12  months  previous  to 
that  period. 

The  educational  and  medical  work  was 
carried  on  successfully  in  spite  of  the 
troubled  condition  of  the  country. 

The  policy  of  Mac  Lean  Station  is  to  cut 
a  new  garden  every  dry  season  and  this 
has  been  followed  even  in  the  days  when 
no  one  could  say  that  we  might  not  be  moved 
in  24  hours.  Mac  Lean’s  food  gardens  are 
justly  famous  and  are  self-supporting  and 
more.  They  meet  a  real  need  as  well. 
At  present  the  249  Bible  readers  with  about 
80  of  their  wives  who  are  present,  would 
find  it  almost  impossible  to  gather  at 
Mac  Lean  were  it  not  that  the  great  bulk 
of  food  comes  from  the  Mission  gardens, 
as  food  in  the  surrounding  towns  is  of  high 
price  and  not  too  plentiful.  The  Bible 
readers’  Class,  the  Girls’  School,  the 
workmen  on  the  place,  the  hospital  patients 
and  other  helpers  are  being  fed,  not  far 
from  500  persons  a  day.  Two-thirds  to 
three-fourths  of  the  food  comes  from  the 
Mission  gardens.  When  one  realizes  that 
150  bunches  of  plantain  were  cut  a  day  for 

8 


the  first  two  weeks  of  the  Bible  readers’ 
school,  one  may  realize  that  gardens  that 
can  stand  this  amount  of  cutting  and 
still  remain  productive,  are  not  small. 

We  are  thankful  to  God  Almighty  for 
His  care  and  protection  over  ourselves  and 
people  for  the  past  year.  We  are  thankful 
for  hard  work  and  plenty  of  it.  We  are 
thankful  for  progress  and  interest  and  we 
trust  that  the  blessing  of  the  Spirit  may 
continue  to  come  upon  the  work  of  Mac  Lean 
station. 


Studying  by  Candle  Light  in  New  Dormitories 


9 


ELAT 

During  the  months  of  December,  1915, 
through  February,  1916,  the  members  of 
the  station  were  for  the  most  part  absent. 
On  December  11,  1915,  the  German  Govern¬ 
ment  sent  an  order  commandeering  the 
buildings  of  the  Industrial  school  for  the 
purpose  of  making  munitions  of  War.  The 
missionaries’  reply  was  that  they  refused 
to  occupy  the  other  buildings  of  the  station 
if  the  Government  should  take  possession. 
As  a  result  all  of  the  Mission’s  buildings 
were  commandeered  by  the  Government.  On 
receiving  the  order  we  at  once  prepared  our 
property  and  the  things  we  were  leaving, 
for  our  absence,  and  on  January  3,  1916, 
left  the  station,  two  of  the  force  remaining 
in  a  nearby  town  in  order  to  care  for  the 
interests  of  the  Mission  and  the  people 
connected  with  the  Mission  and  the  remain¬ 
der  of  the  force  going  to  Metet.  After 
the  taking  of  Elat  by  the  French,  January 
22d,  Mr.  Fraser  and  Mr.  Dager  returned  to 
the  station,  finding  it  littered  with  rubbish 
and  small  shelters  erected  by  the  refugees 
of  whom  there  were  about  3,000  still  on  the 
place.  By  February  7,  all  the  missionaries 
had  returned  with  the  exception  of  the 
Krugs,  and  were  doing  their  best  to  clean 
and  straighten  the  place  and  again  start  the 
work  which  had  so  suddenly  been  brought  to 
a  close.  The  damage  to  our  property  con¬ 
sisted  mostly  of  the  destruction  of  the  gar¬ 
dens,  the  damage  to  the  buildings  and  the 
littering  of  the  property. 

THE  CHURCH  AT  ELAT 

While  the  European  nations  have  been 
pitting  black  man  against  black,  and  the 
white  men  upon  whom  the  people  had  here¬ 
tofore  looked  as  representing  law  and  order 
and  peace  had  turned  to  killing  each  other, 
the  Church  has  stood  as  a  lighthouse  point¬ 
ing  out  the  way  to  better  things.  The 

10 


evangelists  have  been  able  to  remain  at 
their  posts,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
weeks  as  the  Germans  withdrew  on  the 
arrival  of  the  French  and  English  forces. 

The  offerings  for  the  year  have  been 
larger  than  on  any  previous  year.  The 
accessions  to  the  church  by  baptisms  have 
been  almost  that  of  the  preceding  year. 
The  number  of  persons  confessing  Christ 
for  thd  first  time  has  been  large,  while 
the  attendance  at  the  Sabbath  preaching 
services  has  been  equal  to  that  of  other 
years.  Many  have  fallen  before  the  temp¬ 
tations  that  have  come  upon  them  during 
the  general  unrest  and  unsettled  conditions 
due  to  the  war,  yet  the  number  who  have 
withstood  temptations  and  have  suffered  for 
their  faith  has  also  been  large. 

The  church  has  reached  a  membership  of 
4,074,  of  whom  1,027  were  added  during 
the  year,  an  increase  of  more  than  25%  of 
her  previous  membership.  But  Satan  has 
had  a  splendid  opportunity  to  work  and  has 
left  his  mark  upon  the  church.  Not 
only  have  the  ordinary  restraints  been  re¬ 
moved,  making  it  easy  to  fall  into  sin,  but 
people  have  been  taken  from  their  homes 
as  carriers  and  women  have  ofttimes  become 
a  spoil  for  black  soldiers,  so  that  we  rather 
marvel  at  the  way  God  has  kept  His  church 
through  it  all.  The  advanced  catechumen 
class  received  an  addition  of  1,123  persons, 
while  2,892  were  added  to  the  roll  of  those 
who  have  confessed  Christ  during  the  year. 
It  was  feared  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
that  the  church  offerings  would  decrease. 
But  in  this  we  were  mistaken.  The  offer¬ 
ings  this  year  at  Elat  have  been  larger  than 
ever  before.  Chapels  are  being  built, 
Bible-readers  have  been  paid  and  the  church 
at  Elat  is  helping  the  Batanga  church  to 
repair  their  church  building,  which  was 
damaged  by  the  war.  Twelve  young  men 
also  have  given  themselves  to  the  Gospel 
ministry,  have  been  accepted  by  the  session 

11 


and  will  be  recommended  to  presbytery  at 
its  next  meeting.  There  are  twenty-two 
members  of  the  Elat  church  looking  toward 
the  ministry,  and  there  is  a  pressing  need 
for  them. 

It  has  been  impossible  for  the  church  to 
push  its  work  into  the  region  beyond,  as  it 
had  begun  to  do  before  the  war,  but  while 
the  Bible  readers  have  all  been  withdrawn 
from  the  new  Cameroons,  south  of  the 
Campo  river,  the  fact  that  the  people  from 
that  region  have  recently  been  asking  that 
they  be  sent  back  shows  that  the  work 
already  done  in  that  field  has  begun  to  bear 
fruit.  The  112  Bible  readers  scattered  over 
the  country  had  a  splendid  effect  on  the 
people  during  the  time  they  were  without 
government  control.  The  mutineers,  black 
soldiers,  who  had  broken  away  from  the 
German  army,  with  their  guns  and  ammuni¬ 
tion,  as  a  rule  respected  the  Bible  readers 
and  made  them  no  trouble.  During  the 
interim  between  the  two  governments  there 
was  a  great  deal  of  lawlessness.  The  people 
who  were  not  Christians  said  that  God  had 
gone  and  that  there  would  be  a  new  god 
come  after  a  time;  but  the  fact  that  the 
evangelists  were  at  their  posts  preaching 
the  Gospel  as  usual  went  far  to  disabuse 
the  minds  of  the  people  of  the  idea  that 
God  had  left  them  and  they  could  do  as 
they  pleased. 

The  work  of  the  church  is  well  organized 
and  is  under  the  supervision  of  six  theologs. 
The  church  is  perhaps  in  a  better  position 
to-day  to  extend  her  work  into  new  regions 
than  ever  before.  The  field  before  her  is 
large,  and  we  believe  that  in  the  doing  of 
this  missionary  work  she  will  add  to  her 
spiritual  strength  and  take  on  new  life. 

SCHOOLS 

In  moving  things  to  Metet  at  the  time 
the  station  was  requisitioned,  a  box  con¬ 
taining  the  school  papers  and  records  was 

12 


I 


Boys  at  Their  Desks  in  School 


Boys  Grading  for  New  School-house 


13 


lost.  The  German  Government  forbade  the 
conducting  of  a  Bulu  school  at  the  sta¬ 
tion,  but  the  village  schools  were  continued. 
Here  and  there  a  school  was  interfered 
with  by  the  black  soldiers,  but  as  a  rule  the 
work  was  undisturbed  by  anything  but  the 
general  unrest.  Sixteen  per  cent,  of  the 
pupils  in  attendance  at  these  schools  were 
girls.  When  the  boys  were  told  that  only 
Bulu  would  be  taught  and  that  no  other 
language  would  take  the  place  of  the  Ger¬ 
man,  until  affairs  were  settled  at  the  close 
of  the  European  War,  many  of  them 
thought  there  was  no  reason  why  they 
should  attend  the  school.  However,  that 
idea  is  fast  losing  ground  and  the  indica¬ 
tions  are  that  all  will  return  when  another 
term  opens. 

The  generally  unsettled  condition  of  af¬ 
fairs  throughout  the  country  has  had  its 
effect  on  the  school  work.  The  tuition  re¬ 
ceived  has  been  much  less  than  in  previous 
years,  while  in  a  number  of  places  the 
teachers  had  to  flee  from  their  posts  as  the 
Germans  withdrew  and  in  the  looting  that 
followed  by  the  black  soldiers — quite  a 
quantity  of  school  supplies  were  lost. 
Although  far  from  self-supporting  it  has 
been  worth  a  great  deal  to  the  villages  to 
have  them  in  operation,  as  it  gave  the 
people  confidence  at  a  time  when  govern¬ 
ment  control  was  lacking. 

Although  the  medical  work  was  closed 
for  a  part  of  the  year  at  the  time  of  the 
evacuation  of  Elat,  many  sick  and  injured 
were  turned  over  to  the  Mission  for  aid. 


14 


METET 

Metet  Station  report  opens  with  these 
words : 

The  old  order  changeth  giving  place  to 
the  new,  but  the  Lord  our  God  is  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day  and  forever. 

The  year  has  been  one  of  anxiety,  of  un¬ 
certainty,  of  great  opportunities,  privileges 
and  blessings.  God  has  been  wonderfully 
good  to  us  and  to  the  people  among  whom 
we  labor.  We  were,  perhaps,  the  most  un¬ 
touched  by  the  ravages  of  war.  We  suffered 
not  at  all  from  the  want  of  proper  food. 
We  were  privileged  to  minister  to  many 
Europeans,  both  officials  and  missionaries 
of  various  nationalities,  and  our  hill  was  a 
haven  of  refuge  for  the  frightened  natives 
during  the  change  of  regimes. 

Surely  the  Lord  is  good  and  His 
loving  kindness  endureth  forever. 

The  evangelistic  work  has  suffered  many 
ups  and  downs,  but  on  the  whole  has  main¬ 
tained  a  steady  growth.  It  has  been  im¬ 
possible  to  get  a  complete  list  of  all  those 
who  were  written  to  in  the  Catechumen 
class,  as  the  records  of  confessors  were 
destroyed  by  a  company  of  mutineers.  It 
is  gratifying,  however,  to  note  that  there 
have  been  but  few  cases  of  discipline  and 
the  small  membership  have  seemed  to  adhere 
strictly  to  their  vows  and  endeavor  to  keep 
themselves  unspotted  from  the  world. 

The  attendance  at  church  services  has 
kept  up  well,  and  on  communion  Sundays 
has  even  reached  the  2,000  mark.  Eight 
Bible  readers  and  24  school  boys  have  done 
work  in  the  outlying  regions  for  their 
food  money  and  have  done  well.  The  col¬ 
lections  have  been  good,  considering  the 
confusion  and  uncertainties  of  the  war. 
Only  one  month  did  they  fall  below  the 

15 


self-support  mark,  while  the  aggregate  has 
been  sufficient  to  pay  all  expenses. 

In  the  Yebekole  region  it  has  been  im¬ 
possible  to  have  any  missionary  oversight, 
and  the  work  has  been  carried  on  by  a 
teacher  and  Bible  reader,  but  our  houses 
have  remained  intact  and  a  few  faithful 
ones  are  holding  on.  Two  Bible  readers 
have  recently  been  sent  to  gather  up  the 
scattered  ends  and  keep  the  work  going 
until  such  time  as  a  school  can  be  started. 

Our  work  is  getting  a  firmer  grip  on  the 
people  in  some  places,  while  in  others  it 
seems  as  though  every  obstacle  possible  is 
put  in  the  way  and  the  people  are  falling 
away  because  there  is  not  sufficient  pressure 
to  keep  the  men  from  their  deeds  of  law¬ 
lessness.  Gambling  is  rampant.  Women 
and  young  girls  are  exchanged  and  given 
in  pawn.  Fetish  medicine  flourishes,  old 
palavers  are  being  brought  to  light,  many 
headmen  have  usurped  the  right  to  cut 
palavers,  and  their  police  are  plundering, 
robbing  and  beating  the  people,  and  it  seems 
that  no  evil  deed  is  too  black  for  Satan  to 
carry  out  during  his  temporary  reign.  He 
is  having  his  inning  and  playing  it  with  a 
vengeance.  It  is  an  uphill  fight  to  protect 
the  Christians  and  one  that  takes  the  cour¬ 
age,  patience  and  abundant  faith  of  the 
missionary. 

There  has  been  considerable  difficulty  in 
arranging  a  course  in  the  schools  which 
would  appeal  to  the  boys  and  be  of  real 
service  to  them,  as  it  was  believed  not  to 
be  best  to  teach  a  foreign  language,  that 
pet  of  all  the  natives,  not  knowing  what 
nation  would  claim  the  land  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  The  first  term  of  the  year, 
March,  there  was  an  enrollment  of  210. 
Mr.  Oxas,  of  the  Gossner  Mission,  having 
to  close  the  new  work  in  which  he  and 
a  colleague  were  engaged  in  the  Mekae 
country,  came  to  Metet  to  await  the  out¬ 
come  of  the  war  and  assisted  in  the  Boys’ 

16 


The  Old  Bark  School-house 


The  New  Brick  Galvanized  Iron  School-house — 
Bricks  made  by  School  Boys 


17 


school.  The  weekly  allowance  of  salt  had 
to  be  discontinued  owing  to  its  scarcity,  but 
the  boys  seemed  to  appreciate  the  situation. 
The  42  village  schools  were  flourishing  until 
the  mutineers  came  through  the  district  in 
July,  1915.  The  more  remote  of  the  schools 
were  closed.  Nearly  all  were  closed  when 
the  war  zone  reached  Metet  in  January, 
1916. 

The  definite  policy  for  industrial  work, 
laid  out  by  the  Mission  in  September,  1914, 
has  been  persistently  carried  out.  The  ex¬ 
perimental  cocoa  garden  and  the  palm 
orchard  have  done  very  well.  While  the 
cocoa  and  the  1025  plantains  set  out  to 
give  the  young  cocoa  trees  shade  have  been 
growing,  a  crop  of  cassava  and  two  of  corn 
have  been  harvested  from  this  cleared 
ground,  and  a  third  crop  of  corn  is  growing. 
The  harvesting  of  palm  nuts  has  begun  in 
earnest.  There  is  an  unlimited  local  mar¬ 
ket  for  all  the  oil  we  can  produce  and  we 
can  sell  at  a  good  profit.  As  soon  as  lye 
can  be  obtained  the  making  of  soap  will  be 
begun  on  a  large  scale.  Besides  caring  for 
the  orchards  already  planted,  150  pear 
trees,  15  mesa,  300  pawpaw,  2  acres  of 
peanuts,  2  of  corn  and  2  of  cassava  were 
planted.  Coffee  bushes  were  set  out,  Mexi¬ 
can  chestnuts,  Batanga  cherries,  loquot 
trees  and  larger  gardens  of  cassava,  corn 
and  peanuts.  We  have  been  preparing  for 
the  future  by  distributing  seeds  among  the 
school  boys. 

The  school  supplies  are  so  scarce  that  one 
torn  and  thumb-worn  book  must  do  service 
for  four  or  five  pupils  in  the  Girls’  schools. 
Their  interest  and  progress  are  encourag¬ 
ing,  and  though  there  are  no  attractions 
such  as  sewing  and  salt  to  offer,  they  are 
contented. 

For  the  first  time  native  goats  have  been 
furnishing  fresh  milk  to  the  missionaries  at 
Metet.  Not  much  milk  from  a  goat  to  be 

18 


sure,  but  given,  say  fifteen  to  a  family,  they 
could  have  fresh  milk  the  year  round. 

Nor  has  the  aesthetic  side  been  lost  sight 
of.  A  couple  of  hundred  rose  bushes  have 
been  set  out  from  cuttings.  Some  of  these 
are  now  flowering  profusely,  gladdening  the 
heart  and  reminding  us  of  better  climes. 

The  War  came  on  before  the  Dispensary 
at  Metet  was  fully  equipped  but  fortunately 
there  was  on  hand  a  fairly  good  supply  of 
the  more  essential  drugs  and  there  has  been 
no  shortage  of  medicines. 

According  to  the  plan  of  the  Government 
it  seemed  probable  that  quite  a  number  of 
German  women  and  children  would  seek 
refuge  at  Metet  in  addition  to  members  of 
our  own  Mission  so  it  seemed  wise  to  re¬ 
strict  the  amount  of  medicine  dispensed  to 
the  natives  to  the  very  needy  cases.  How¬ 
ever  no  one  suffered  for  the  lack  of  medi¬ 
cine  or  care.  Living  room  was  at  a  prem¬ 
ium  and  the  dispensary  was  used  for  a 
residence,  the  medicines  being  transferred 
to  the  doctor’s  residence. 


19 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  held 
September  21st,  1914,  it  was  voted  : 

“To  authorize  the  Missions  of  the  Board 
which  might  have  German  or  French  mis¬ 
sionaries  for  their  neighbors  to  give  what¬ 
ever  help  might  be  necessary  for  the  per¬ 
sonal  support  of  such  missionaries  and  to 
report  to  the  Board  what  might  be  needed 
for  this  purpose  and  also  what  help  should 
be  given,  if  possible,  toward  the  main¬ 
tenance  of  the  missionary  work  carried  on 
by  such  missionaries. 

“To  authorize  the  Treasurer  to  open  a 
special  War  Emergency  Fund  to  provide 
for  the  additional  expense  necessitated  by 
the  war  and  to  enable  the  Board  to  render 
whatever  service  it  might  be  able  to  the 
missionaries  of  other  nationalities,  who  are 
suffering  because  of  the  war.” 

The  West  Africa  Mission  did  its 
part  in  carrying  out  the  above  resolu¬ 
tion,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following 
quotation  from  the  report  of  Metet 
Station : 

“Thirteen  refugee  missionaries  and  their 
children,  representing  three  different  mis¬ 
sionary  societies,  have  been  entertained  and 
64  passing  guests  of  four  nationalities  have 
found  hospitality  within  our  gates.” 


20 


STATIONS  OCCUPIED  BY  THE  PRESBY- 
TERIAN  BOARD  IN  WEST  AFRICA 

SPANISH  GUINEA 

Benito:  77  miles  north  of  Baraka,  on  the 
coast;  occupied  as  a  Station,  1864. 

CAMEROON 

Batanga:  170  miles  north  of  Baraka,  on 
the  coast;  occupied  as  a  Station,  1885. 

Efulen  :  57  miles  east  of  Batanga,  be¬ 

hind  the  coast  belt,  and  180  miles  north¬ 
east  of  Baraka;  occupied,  1893. 

Elat:  56  miles  east  of  Efulen  and  195 
miles  northeast  of  Baraka;  occupied  as  a 
Station,  1895. 

MacLean  Memorial  Station:  at  Lolo- 
dorf,  70  miles  northeast  of  Batanga  and  210 
miles  northeast  of  Baraka;  occupied  as  a 
Station  in  1897. 

Metet:  73.5  miles  northeast  of  Elat; 
occupied  in  1909. 

MISSIONARIES  UNDER  APPOINTMENT 


Ordained  .  18 

Laymen  .  8 

Physicians — men  .  6 

Single  women  .  7 

Wives  of  missionaries .  23 


62 


September,  1 01  o. 


Form  No.  2416. 


